Remember the Maine
by Stephen Ratliff
Summary: Marrissa Story - Revision of Cadet Cruise. As the USS Maine falls apart, the cadets must take command, and Young Marrissa Picard is left as the most experienced officer aboard.
1. Prologue

Remember the Maine

A Revision of _Cadet Cruise_

Prologue

"Begin Recording," the Andorian Ensign said, to the center of the conference table in one of the many meeting rooms in Star Fleet Academy's Christopher Pike Hall. "This is the official evaluation board of the cadet cruise aboard the _USS Maine_, Admiral Gregory Quinn, presiding. Also serving are Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise serving as an observer evaluator, Commander T'Gwen Washington serving as Command and Science Evaluator, Lieutenant Commander Charles Chang as Operations Evaluator, and Lieutenant Effia as observing Tactical Evaluator. Admiral Quinn also serves as Engineering observing evaluator." The ensign nodded at the Admiral, as his hands moved in position to begin taking notes at his console.

Admiral Quinn was at the center of the table, his white hair still streaked by the blue stain of the coolant leak which had put him out of commission for much of the cruise. "Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, we've got an interesting one, this time," Quinn began. "Before we get started, I'd like to thank Captain Picard for staying to serve as an evaluator today, forgoing a rush back to his command."

Captain Picard nodded. "It was my pleasure, Gregory." There was still a bruise on his temple from where he'd been hit by pieces of an exploding console.

"We'll start with overall impressions," Quinn said. "I realize that this cruise was atypical of normal cruises due to not only the deteriorating shape of the _Maine _but it's encounter with what the Romulans are calling a rogue commander. That being said, I am impressed overall with the behavior of the cadets, with a few notable exceptions, which I'll bring up later. With a short staff, failing systems, and a devolved command staff with very little experience, it is quite impressive the way they were able come together. With the way they not only brought the damaged _Maine _back to Earth but brought that Romulan ship in tow, I think we can trust Star Fleet in their hands. Captain Picard?"

Captain Picard looked at his fellow officers before beginning. "While there are a couple officers which I must particularly exclude myself from discussing, I have to agree with Admiral Quinn's assessment. I was particularly impressed with the Bridge Staff, once they realized where the chain of command was. Engineering was also impressive, and the entire medical staff deserves a commendation in dealing with the five hundred plus injuries."

"Commander Washington?"

Commander T'Gwen Washington was a statuesque woman, one of the most common of hybrids, Vulcan-human. She had started her career as a Science Officer, but lately had moved over to command, on the insistence of one of her Captains. Just finished with her Advance Tactical Course at the Academy, she was due to take up her first command shortly. This was the first time Captain Picard had met Washington.

Commander Washington began in clipped tones, "I find that I must agree with Captain Picard on the general tenure of the Maine's crew during it's last cruise,. However, I also find that the science staff was well below even minimal standards, which I intend to highlight when we get to that section. The quick devolving of command down to the most junior of officers gave me a fascinating look at officers that normally would not have received attention of a command evaluator during a cruise. I particularly suggest that we pay close attention in our evaluations to Cadets Hath, Janakowski, Szustakowski, and Crusher. In addition, it is advisable to watch closely the reactions around Acting-Ensign Marrissa Picard, due to the particularities of her command and the reactions of her age."

"Lieutenant Commander Chang?"

Charles Chang was an officer that had once served on the Enterprise. Charles had been Data's chief assistant before being transferred back to the Academy. Data had praised him for his ability to evaluate people, and teach officers to think beyond the book. He was on the short list of officers that Captain Picard wished he had a spot on his command worthy of their ability. The Enterprise Strings had been missing him as well. The new bass violist wasn't quite up to his standards.

Chang's deep bass, as melodic as he made the instrument he played, picked up, "Operational, we had every officer's worst nightmare. My evaluation of the cadets that took up that position is almost universally that of praise. There is only one black mark that I'll be giving, and that one was nearly redeemed by her subsequent actions. I hope no other cadet cruise goes this bad, that said, I believe that a particular two hour period should be transformed into a simulation, as Operations' version of the _Kobayshi Maru_. I believe that Lieutenant Effia even has a name for it."

"Lieutenant Effia?"

Effia was an orion female, short for her species, and well known for her unique public celibacy. She'd served with distinction in the last Cardassian War, and afterwards asked not to serve on an active starship for a few years. The Academy had jumped at the chance to employ her. Captain Picard had long enjoyed her articles in Star Fleet Tactics, a weekly Academy publication of which Effia had recently became Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Captain Picard was also one of the few who knew the reason behind her posting, her now seven-year-old daughter. She hadn't been on the cruise itself due to that fact.

Where Chang's deep base had been melodic, Effia's was lyrical, her coloratura soprano voice turning every day speech into music. It was no wonder that no one fell asleep when she taught the usually dry courses of Historical Tactics I, II, and III. "Tactically, I have much praise to spread around. Especially given the state of the ship, the maneuvers ordered by Acting-Ensign Picard during the capture of the Romulan ship, and the execution of them alone were quite exemplary. My colleague is also correct on the name. It is some what amusing that before I arrived today, I finished a unit on Naval Tactics during the latter half of Earth's Nineteenth Century, as it's an important event from that era that results in my suggested name for Chang's simulation. The American battle cry for their Spanish-American War will no doubt be repeated by many of the cadets involved for years. Ladies and Gentlemen, as junior member of the board, I hope it is not too forward of me to suggest thoroughness as every Cadet on this cruise will 'Remember the _Maine_.'"


	2. Evaluation One: Science

Chapter One: Science

"Admiral Quinn ... The Science task which I have chosen to highlight was unorthodox, but it was most fascinating and enlightening as to the strengths and scientific weaknesses of those involved," Commander T'Gwen Washington said. "The choice of commanding officer for the task could have caused a negative experience, given the biases it discovered ..."

Jean-Luc Picard was quite familiar with this science task. He'd nearly taken the Admiral to task when he found out about it, after the fact. He had not been happy about it ...

"Jean-Luc, you have to see the results of this latest science task," Admiral Quinn said, sitting back in one of the comfortable chairs in the Admiral's quarters. Jean-Luc was seated beside him, in another chair. "I think we've got a genius on our hands."

"Really." Jean-Luc smiled behind his glass of the '47. In the field he'd often found that some of the most average cadets turned out to be some of his best officers. He need only look at his own First Officer, who had graduated at the exact middle of his graduating class.

"Oh yes," Quinn said. "You'll definitely want to hang on to this girl. It will be hard for her to win her spurs, but I can see her replacing you in the center seat some day."

"Somehow I find that unlikely," Jean-Luc said. "Especially since we're talking about a science task."

Quinn's grin was irrepressible. "Really. Computer, ready Stellar Cartography Recording 0413."

On the screen opposite their chairs appeared Jean-Luc's adopted daughter. She was wearing a Star Fleet Officer's Command Branch uniform, with the single pip of an Ensign. "Gregory, you didn't give an acting commission to my daughter, did you?" Jean-Luc practically growled. "She's barely twelve years old, not nearly responsible enough to be an officer in Star Fleet."

"She was responsible enough to command your saucer section, and from what I understand, did a bang up job at it," Quinn replied. "Relax, Jean-Luc, it's only temporary, and I really needed a wedge on these cadets. You'll see why. Computer begin playback."

Jean-Luc stared at the screen. His daughter was taking a deep breath, having obviously stopped at the door to gather up her courage.

Marrissa took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door to Stellar Cartography. She wasn't exactly sure why she'd been chosen to do this task. Nor was she sure she could do it. She had been throughly briefed on the Cadets she was going to be in charge of, and Quantum Filaments were a subject that she knew quite well. These were Science Cadets, though, and she was only an Acting-Ensign, newly minted at that. All she had to back her up was her rank, her orders, an a juried paper she wrote published in the Vulcan Science Academy's Young Scholar Edition. She stepped forward, and the door opened.

Stellar Cartography on the _Maine _was not as good as that of the _Enterprise_. The wear the ship had experienced as a cadet training ship was clearly visible in the worn steel showing through the tan paint on the rail. There were four Cadets in the room. At the moment none of them appeared to have any attention to spare for the door.

The first one to catch Marrissa's eye was a brunette human female, of what appeared to be Italian extraction. She recalled from the brief that Admiral Hansen gave her that the third year cadet was named Fortunata Funnicella. Cadet Funnicella had solid grades, and specialized in interstellar phenomena. It appeared that Cadet Funnicella didn't like Cadet Ericson.

Cadet Aurelia Ericson had one of those figures which drew jealousy for light-years. Large perfect breasts, blonde hair, and a natural slinky walk which was apparently a siren call for many a male, including, it appeared, Cadet Tadh, another of the cadets involved. Her academy record, aside from her excellent ratings in atmospheric dynamics, indicated that she had been involved in several romance related fights, usually breaking up people fighting over her.

Cadet Tadh was a male Tellarite. Cadet Tadh was suppose to be a determined researcher who often tracked down even the most obscure detail. Aside from being enthralled by Cadet Ericson he seemed to be rather non-threatening, at the moment.

Then there was Cadet Racht, a Andorian who seemed somewhat aloft from the rest, perched up on the rail surrounding the work area inside the Stellar Cartography display room. He seemed to be verbally stalking the conversation, throwing in a well timed interjection before retreating.

Marrissa stepped forward and the door closed behind her. No one had noticed. She straightened up, and ordered, "Attention on deck!" Almost immediately, the cadets came to attention, and turned toward Marrissa.

"Who are you, and what are you doing on this ship?" Marrissa had expected that Tadh would be the quickest to react to her negatively. Admiral Quinn had thought that it would be Ericson.

"To answer your questions, I'm Ensign Picard, and Admiral Quinn asked me to run you through a small science project." Marrissa stepped up to Tadh as she spoke to him firmly, remembering what she's learnt in Species Culture. Tadh seemed surprised at her move.

"Tell Admiral Quinn that Tellarites don't appreciate his sudden sense of humor." Marrissa remained at her close distance, closer to the Tellarite than she was normally comfortable to stand with anyone.

"Perhaps you would prefer, Cadet, to tell him yourself. You seem to have a strong opinion on the matter, and I might not convey it in strong enough fashion." Marrissa figured that it was time to personalize her comments a bit more from the briefing she'd gotten from the Admiral. It was important that she establish herself with this cadet as knowing his cultural norms. "I would advise, however, that you follow your usual pattern and burrow yourself in the task I'm about to give you. It is a group project, and should one of you fail, you all will, I'm told."

"Look, what is your name?" Marrissa had hoped that Cadet Ericson would at least remember her name, or use the rank. She'd have to keep the count. Admiral Quinn had warned her.

"Ensign Picard, Marrissa Picard," Marrissa responded, still focused on Cadet Tadh. "If Cadet Tadh is through with his traditional posturing?"

"Look, Marrissa. I'm going to assume that Admiral Quinn's the one who gave you that uniform, so how about you go back to him and tell him we're not falling for this test of blind obedience. Tell him we understand his object lesson, that some people are so hung up on the virtue of obedience that they'd follow a child's orders if she has more pips." That stung Marrissa more than she'd expected. She thought she had prepared for it, but it hit her still, when Ericson said it.

Marrissa turned toward Cadet Ericson. "Cadet Ericson, if that was the only test today, you'd have just failed. Fortunately for you, it is not. Today you're on a Cadet Cruise, an extended lab. Next year you may be on a starship, and your commanding officer may for instance suffer a transporter accident and appear as I do. Don't jump to conclusions. They may be wrong."

"Transporter accident, of all the ridiculous ..." Marrissa had to smile at the reaction. Apparently Tadh hadn't read certain logs from the _Enterprise _... then again, her father had said that half of the logs of the _Enterprise_, any _Enterprise_, were ignored by the Academy. Who, after all, could believe that the old _NCC-1701 _had once been held up by a Greek god's hand.

"Hold your tongue, Tadh. I think you've got this all wrong. I recall that there are a few rare pink skins with a syndrome that halts their growth. You wouldn't want to be reprimanded for insulting an officer with a disease." She hadn't expected Cadet Racht to get involved. It was to her a good sign.

"We'll leave it that, I think. Cadets, your task today is to utilize some recently made available data presented here as a real time situation. Sensors have detected signs of quantum filaments surrounding our ship. With the available data, including any knowledge or material you possess or can find in the ship's database, you must find a way to improve the _Maine's _detection and evasion of quantum filaments. Cadet Funnicula, perhaps you have a suggestion as to how you and your fellow Cadets might start?" Marrissa looked at the cadet who had been silent since she entered the room. In fact Cadet Funnicula was still at attention. "And at ease, please."

Cadet Funnicula dropped completely out of formal poses before replying. "Well, before we do anything, I think we need to know exactly which method the ship has detected these quantum filaments. Was it via subspace distortion of an idling warp field, signs of impact on other stellar and non-stellar objects, or deflector beam disruption?"

"That last one has never been proven," Cadet Ericson interjected.

"Consider it a combination of the first two, Cadets. As for the latter not being proven, Cadet Ericson, I happen to agree. Doctor Hajjin's study failed to eliminate several other possible causes for the Possum's deflector beam behavior, most notably the defective nature of certain components of the Marsupial Class Transport's design. Still, don't entirely count out the possibilities the deflector dish." Marrissa saw Cadet Racht's antenna twitch. She hoped that Cadet Funnicula would come up on assignments on her own for everyone, but if not, she had them, and Funnicula would probably be marked down.

"Then, I want to look at the impacts on the stellar objects, especially if we have pre-impact scans. Racht will probably want to start with the effects on the warp field, and he's better with the subspace interference part of things anyway. Ericson seems to be well versed in the prior attempts to detect and perhaps deflect quantum filaments, so she should start there. Tadh is great with in depth research, and all of us are going to need data outside of the observational data sets for this task. I trust his judgement on getting the right one of us the data we need."

Marrissa was pleasantly surprised. That had been what Admiral Quinn had described as the best possible arrangement of these Cadets. She had been forbidden from arranging them thus, but if they chose it, she was to let them. "Very good arrangement, Cadet. Any objections?" She looked at the other cadets. "Then it's time for you to start. Be aware that this is a timed exercise. At various points I will be announcing changes in the state of affairs, and providing additional data. For the purpose of this exercise, you are to assume you're on a Galaxy Class Starship."

For a moment everyone was still. "Well, get going." Finally the cadets took seats with Tadh seated towards the middle of the room, with in easy reach of the others. Marrissa moved to a seat away from them where she could see everyone and brought up the monitoring program that Admiral Quinn had shown her.

Marrissa felt quite out of place. Her left hand went up to play with the end of her pony tail as she scrolled back and forth through the requests and data being brought up by the four science cadets. She wasn't a real officer. Oh she'd sat in command of the _Enterprise's _saucer section by a fluke of regulations, and even managed to successfully get it through a battle, but she was twelve years old. She hadn't expected to do any of that in her wildest dreams until she was at least twice her current years.

Admiral Quinn had told her that she needed to know what the less glamourous side of Star Fleet was like. Command, he had told her, was not all battles and glory. She had been silent in her acceptance after that. She knew it couldn't be. She'd been on the other side of the equation when Commander Riker had told her of her parent's deaths. That couldn't be an easy task for Riker ... after all her hasty exit in tears had sent the Enterprise's First Officer to Deep Space Nine's Infirmary.

This, Admiral Quinn, had told her, was a more typical task for an officer. He'd said that most of the time an officer's duty was boring, filled with paperwork and routine. It was up to the officer to make something of the routine, to fill the time between excitements. It was that, in Quinn's opinion, that made good officers. It wasn't tactical brilliance, nor talented engineering innovations that made an officer. No, it was how they handled the every day routine, making the every day palatable, even exceptional.

It was time to make some new data available. It was to be labeled is that from an independent researcher on the _Enterprise_. It was actually Marrissa's work files for her paper, a paper which she had noticed had been skipped over by Tadh and the other Cadets. That had been a shame, in Marrissa's opinion.

"New, data, Cadets," Marrissa announced, standing up and walking over to stand next to Tadh. "Communication with the _Enterprise _has provided us with the details of her recent encounter. Hopefully you'll find them useful." She clicked a few buttons on Tadh's display, and his access to data increased to include the new files, organized in the same directory structure he was using.

"Yes, sir," Tadh said. "Racht, I have better warp field data for you, now. Galaxy Class instead of Excelsior prime fields."

"Good," Racht replied. "Has anyone written anything on this in the last decade? All these theories appear to be rather old." That had been Marrissa's complaint when she had started her science project. She wasn't quite sure why that was the case, but it seemed that there had been a flurry of articles back in the 2340s and early 2350s, and then the scientific community had lost interest.

"There is Hajjin, posthumous, in _Cochrane _six years ago, and that nut Professor Graham in _Academy Review_, four years ago... and that's all unless you count the Young Scholar's article a few months ago," Tadh said, as Marrissa watched him route pieces of her data off to the other Cadets. Hajjin, in Marrissa's opinion, was the theorist in the field, an honor that he'd earned with well reasoned articles and article responses back in the 2340s ... Graham on the other hand ...

"Give me the Young Scholar's thing," Ericson asked, as Marrissa smiled. "It's got to be better than Graham." Marrissa had to agree. Anything was better than the Star Fleet Academy Professor's article on quantum filaments. She was of the opinion that Graham hadn't even bothered to look at any data in the last fifty years, based on his theory of tensile rebound as a movement theory. No one had ever found signs that quantum filaments had been anchored at any point in space, a requirement of his theory.

Marrissa looked back down, and noticed that Tadh was also looking through her article. She looked up to discover that Racht was looking at her. He pointed at her, then the article, also up on his screen, with an older picture of her open in a side frame. Marrissa nodded, slightly. "This explains so much," Racht said, suddenly. "Tadh, I'm going to need data on warp field extension, concentration, and counter ship charging. In particular, if there is anything regarding magnetically charging a warp field."

"On it," Tadh replied, beginning a new search. "Funnicula, I just sent you the _Enterprise's_ deuterium tank data. You might want to look at it closely."

"Quantum filament went right through it ... scale model, thanks, Tadh," Funnicula said. Marrissa hadn't thought of that during her research for the final article until Commander La Forge had mentioned it when he'd stopped by to see Clara's father. "Ericson, anything interesting in the Young Scholar?" Marrissa moved over to the two female cadets, taking a seat on the rail behind them.

"I think your scale model might have been done by this writer," Ericson replied. "It's the only way I can see that she might have come to a few of these points." Ericson turned and fixed her gaze on Marrissa. "Am I correct, Miss Flores-Picard, sir?"

"I believe so," Marrissa replied, circumspectly. She wasn't quite certain that she wanted to admit to Ericson what she had to Racht. Her statement was apparently enough, as Ericson turned away from the screen and focused her intense gaze on Marrissa.

"I really want to know why you think that you are so important that you got this job," Ericson began. Marrissa could feel the hostility roll off the cadet. "One article in a young scholars edition does not make you some big shot. From what I can tell you're just a little girl whose been dressed up in crimson and black, given a task to make her feel important, irregardless of how it might effect everyone else, and how absurd the whole idea is."

"Cadet, my whole life the last month has be absurd," Marrissa blurted out. It was true, but that was not exactly how she had planned in her mind to refute a challenge. Still ... "I'll admit that my being in charge of this is absurd, just as much as my sitting in the center seat was. And I assure you that wasn't my choice, either. Some day, I'd like to really deserve it, but I don't now. That, however, should have no bearing on you actions in a training scenario."

Marrissa took a deep breath, catching the other cadets looking at her. She was in the spotlight again. Being in the spotlight not something she was naturally comfortable with. "You're studying to become a Science Officer in an organization that professes its mission as it seek out strange new worlds ... you should expect strange things to happen in training, strange situations, different people, and the absurd ... The Admiral says it's one of the few ways they can get a clear picture of how you will react in the field when something really strange happens."

"Really strange, I'd find it really hard to find a stranger situation than this object lesson on blind obedience," Ericson replied.

Marrissa raised her right eyebrow. "I grew up on the _Enterprise_, I'm sure I can find something," she said firmly. "However, I respectfully suggest that you return to task, before a quantum filament hits us."

"In that case, sir," Ericson began, "perhaps you'd like to pull up a chair and explain exactly how you think a warp field might effect the movements."

"What happened to the object lesson on blind obedience?" Marrissa asked.

"I'm not about to let object lessons get in the way of a test, or duty, sir," Ericson said. "You are the closest thing we're going to get to a live expert in the field ... We're supposed to use all our resources to solve any problem we're given. That's the one point, the only point, I have ever agreed with Professor Graham on."

Marrissa pulled up a chair and said down between the two female cadets. "In that case, if you'll bring up file 1701-D/models/Dtank5, and notice how the warp field idles throughout the time indexes before the filament impacted the warp nacelle. It's not exactly very smooth, because they were running a configuration test shortly before the impact started. If you cross reference that with file 1701-D/models/ImpactPath2, you'll note that the path the filament took was right along the nacelle field strength equalization path until the warp field collapsed, once it got into a certain strength."

"So that means we have to pay close attention to the equalization path when scanning," Funnicula said. Marrissa watched as her eyebrows closed in thought.

"Pink skin, do you have a model of the intended configuration test warp configuration sequence," Racht asked from his seat. "The one in as a part of the ImpactPath2 doesn't look proper."

"It's in 1701-D/models/EngineTest189314," Marrissa replied. "Sorry about the name, I didn't rename it after Commander LaForge provided it for me."

"Tadh, I need a conversion chart for Excelsior Prime engine configurations to Galaxy Prime mod E54 engine config," Racht said. "Ericson, it will be only two data sets, but I should have you a good model of what you might be able to do with the warp engines at idle. I wouldn't advise trying this at warp speeds, though."

"Sir, the deuterium tank data indicates that all the impacted deuterium became initially negatively charged," Funnicula said. Marrissa turned to face her. "Our data on the surrounding impacted bodies indicate that the bodies are both unusually positive and negatively charged. In your opinion does this indicate multiple filaments are involved?"

"That might be the case. Only one filament went through the _Enterprise's _deuterium tank. Two, however hit the ship itself."

Ericson then took up the thought,"Causing the ship to become momentarily charged in opposite polarities. That made the warp engine suffer an antimatter containment near-failure. But if we can determine what charge each filament is, as it approaches, and they aren't too close together like the ones that impacted the _Enterprise_, we might be able to use that charge against them, as long as we can adjust the equalization path, so the filament isn't drawn down it. But our detection range is currently about 600 meters, not even a ship length for a Galaxy class."

"Racht, how far can we extend our warp field?" Funnicula asked. "Not the spec numbers, but what's been done."

"It's on your console," Racht replied. "You're thinking of using the effect at the extreme range detect and then sweeping it to the edge. It might just work. Tadh, I think I'm going to need your help with modeling it, thought."

Marrissa sat back in her chair. She hadn't expected for them to get to this point so quickly. That was when something caused the ship to shake and the lights to go out. The computer screens were still on, providing a golden glow to the room. "Ensign Picard to Engineering."

"Engineering, Cadet Crusher, we've just had what appears to be an EPS outage on deck eight. Can this wait?"

"This might be related. We felt an explosion, and lights are out in Stellar Cartography. Computer access is still available."

"We're on it, Engineering out."

"Unfortunately, Jean-Luc, the cameras went out after that," Quinn said, as the image went blank. "It's it was a minor task, but she did it well. I know you're worried about your daughter, and you have a right to do so. But remember how she first got command ... until today she's just had the glories of command. It's it better that she learn the other side now, before she builds her dream on unrealistic experiences?"

"... as you can see, the Stellar Cartography Exercise, was quite atypical," Commander Washington said as Jean-Luc exited his musings. "However, it showed quite a bit of growth on the part of the Cadets. Not just in their abilities, but in their maturity."

"Admiral Quinn, this exercise was your invention," Lieutenant Effia said. "I don't think I've quite seen it's like, and knowing the Cadets in question, it had the possibility of a rather spectacular failure. A failure that I believed was right on track to happen at the beginning. I do not know where you found that Ensign, but I think we'll all agree that this piece was the first sign of what a gem of a young officer she is."

"We'll pass up on Jean-Luc's opinion of said young officer," Admiral Quinn said. "Please, however, keep trying to convince him of her competence. He's had a few objections to my giving his daughter acting rank."

"I was not aware that you had a daughter, Captain," Chang said, looking up from his PADD.

"Adopted, it happened a few weeks ago," Captain Picard replied. "All of the cadets made a bad first impression. It is quite evident that this scenario was well tailored to these cadets. it was as much an exercise to see the command interaction as to the scientific side. The cadets did manage to overcome their problems with Ensign Picard, but it has revealed an obvious issue that their commanders should be made aware of when they receive their first post. Aside from that, I am somewhat concerned with Cadet Racht's tendency to use pejorative language to refer to his fellow cadets. From my view of his record, this appears to be something that the Academy is already aware of, though."

"I'll agree with Captain Picard on the Cadets," Chang said. "I particularly wish to note how quickly they were able to come up with a solution, a solution that I believe deserves further study."

"Agreed," T'Gwen interjected. "I suggest that the Cadets be assigned to write up their solution for possible submission to both the VSA and Star Fleet Science."

"I'll see to it as soon as we're done," Admiral Quinn said.


	3. Evaluation Two: Engineering One

**Chapter Two: Engineering 1**

Lieutenant Effia put down her cup of tea. Since Admiral Quinn was also presiding officer, she had been delegated to present Engineering as well as Tactical. "As Admiral Quinn has found, while Engineering was involved throughout the crisis on the Maine, I want to particularly highlight the actions of those at the beginning of the actions, as the chain of command in Engineering fell apart in a sequence of key events."

"The first recording I have is from when the first EPS conduit blew. Present in engineering are Lieutenant Commander Red Tunica, Cadet Wesley Crusher, Cadet Virginia Szustakowski, Cadet Grith, and Chief Petty Officer Tim De Lye.

* * *

"As you may be aware, the Maine left dock with shorter than usual staff due to Chief Petty Officer De Lye's bachelor party. This led to Commander Tunica's reliance on certain experienced Cadets to fill his watches. Two of these are featured here; Cadet Szustakowski, who managed to stand a few watches aboard her mother's ship, the _Roanoke_; and Cadet Crusher, who I believe Captain Picard can detail his experiences better than I."

Captain Picard put down his own Earl Grey Tea and nodded towards Lieutenant Effia. "Cadet Crusher served aboard the _Enterprise_, first as an Acting Ensign, the eventually field promoted after just missing his ride to the Academy. He obtained this rank due to his natural engineering talent, and served both as an Assistant Engineer and as a CONN Officer."

Lieutenant Effia picked up her PADD, and the viewscreen began to replay the situation in Engineering.

"I am the very model of a modern Chief Engineer ..." Cadet Wesley Crusher was beginning to get annoyed by Commander Tunica's modification of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, especially since Tunica was off pitch. There were sometimes that Wesley hated inheriting his mother's perfect pitch ability ... on the other hand, the Dancing Doctor had at least made sure he didn't have two left feet. He had no shortage of women wishing to be his dance partner at the last Academy Dance.

"Commander, I've got a spike in the main starboard plasma transfer conduit," Cadet Katherine Szustakowski interrupted. Wesley immediately ended his simulation of a new warp field configuration, saving the data as quickly as possible.

As Lieutenant Commander Tunica stopped singing and turned toward Szustakowski, the ship shook with an explosion, and then after a pause, another. "Report!" Tunica ordered.

"The starboard plasma transfer conduit spiked, and then apparently exploded at section 17 Baker," Szustakowski said. "It appears that another explosion followed in section 16 Sierra. Power is out on decks 8, 9, and part of 10 in the saucer section. So far hull integrity appears to be good."

"Chief De Lye, I need you to look at section 16 Sierra." Tunica ordered. "Take Cadets Hanth, Grant, and Rowrrl. Cadets Janth, Wilcoma, and Roth, follow me. Ensign Crusher, I'm leaving you in charge here. Cadet Szustakowski, begin a full diagnostic of the plasma distribution system. That's one of our primary nodes that's out, and I want to know why."

Wesley joined the chorus of "Aye sir" as Engineering broke out into a swirl of activity. He surveyed the Cadets left behind ... he was short staffed, at the moment, but the next shift was due to arrive in just a few minutes.

"Sandavol! I need an inventory of spares ... how much plasma conduit do we have ... and once you know that, I want it ready for when Commander Tunica calls for it," Wesley ordered. He turned to Szustakowski, looking over her shoulders at how the diagnostic was going. "We need to reduce plasma pressure, systemwide. I don't like the build up I'm seeing to port."

Just as he turned to a console to implement the reduction, the ship shook again. "Section 5 alpha of the port conduit just went," Szustakowski announced. "Power is out on decks 4 through 7 of the saucer section forward of the computer cores."

The all hands chime rang. "Commander Tunica to all Engineering Cadets. Report to Main Engineering for emergency duty assignment. Tunica out." Wesley looked at Szustakowski and Sandavol ... he needed the help. "Tunica to Crusher."

"Crusher here." Wesley said as Sandavol handed him a PADD.

"I'm going to need all the spare conduit we have," Tunica said. "We've got at least six meters that has to be replaced on this line alone. I'm also going to need some temporary supports ... we've got a two meter hole right through deck nine."

"We're cutting that close," Wesley said, as other cadets began to arrive. "We've got 150 meter sections in storage. I'll start sending it up sections. Would some cargo shelving work for your supports? Also we've now got a section out at section 5 alpha to port."

"That will do. Start sending it immediately. Also, compose a team to check out the port outage. I want you to stay and run things in Engineering. I trust you to keep this ship on an as even kneel as possible." A cadet entered with a bruised cheek as Tunica concluded his orders.

"Understood. I'm worried about communications as well. There should have been a call from the Bridge by now." There had been no drills or simulations scheduled, it was too close to the end of Alpha Shift.

"Trust Szustakowski on diagnostics, she's a wizard at them, and get her to work on that as soon as she's done with the EPS. I'll expect your parts in no more than five minutes. Tunica out."

For a while things were calm in Main Engineering, and Wesley took the time to make sure everything was covered and monitored. He'd been in Engineering during crisis situations before on the Enterprise, and had discussed with Geordi on what they involved. Wesley was sure that the discussions were part of what Captain Picard had ordered so that the then acting Ensign would know everything he needed to be a command track officer in Star Fleet.

The Engineering Cadets began to filter in during the next few minutes, and Wesley immediately put them to work, assigning them to teams to investigate the outage to port, to deliver parts to Commander Tunica and Chief De Lye, and to figure out the commonalities between the problem.

There was yet another shudder of explosion felt in Engineering. "Ensign Crusher! We've got another outage at Section 17 Gamma," Cadet Sandavol announced.

"Cadet Roth to Engineering!"

"Engineering," Wesley responded.

"I don't think we're going to effect repairs here," the frantic reply of Roth said, "Commander Tunica is out, Sickbay is responding. The conduit is totally gone. By Grathfor's Hammer! We've got a hole two decks deep and at least ten meters wide now."

"Sandavol, I want the EPS system down to minimum use ASAP!" Wesley ordered. "Cadets Unip, Jeniper, and Edwards, start notifying everyone that we'll be using local power only until further notice on the internal power grid. Roth, secure what you can there, get me good scans, and then head back to Engineering with the remains of your team. Engineering out."

Wesley looked around. Everyone seemed to be moving to do their duty. "Szustakowski, Virginia, please tell me we've got communications with the Bridge."

"I've just finished rerouting around the latest damage," Szustakowski said. "I assume you want to call them?" Wesley thought the smile on Virginia Szustakowski's face was totally out of place, but he had other things to handle.

"Yes. Ensign Crusher to Bridge!"

* * *

Lieutenant Effia paused the recording at this point, stating. "That's the first key Engineering segment. I understand that some of the available footage immediately following this is part of the Operations footage. Our next section will be eight-two minutes later. As the operations segment is actually before that, I'd like do that segment after Commander Chang does Operations. Before I hand off to Charles. Are their any questions about the first section?"

"Just one," Admiral Hanson said, putting down his PADD. "I noticed that Cadet Szustakowski was starting on a diagram during the last few seconds of this recording. Was that diagram the age of EPS conduit that was leaked to the press earlier this week?"

"Yes sir," Effia said, picking up another PADD. "It was entirely her work. Star Fleet Security is still not sure how the press got it though."

"Having heard what the general public has said about that diagram, I believe Cadet Szustakowski deserves a commendation at the very least for her work on it," Captain Picard said, leaning back in his chair. "I know some Engineers I've had that could use a few lessons from her on correlating data."


End file.
